


Monster

by mettamark



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, MTT is an anxiety ridden mess, MTT is still a robot, Multi, The skeletons are famous youtubers, not mettafoncest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:42:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mettamark/pseuds/mettamark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mettaton is a robo-diva with a lot of issues; life in the spotlight isn't all it's cracked up to be. Juggling way too many things to be healthy, now he has to figure out his feelings about his two housemates The Skeleton Brothers who suddenly have a plan to lighten the load.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The proposition

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not good at titles at all, whatever. This is my first "published" fanfic, I hope it's okay. I already have a bunch of chapters set up, and it's starting to seem pretty long.

It’s been one of those weeks, you know the one; where everything is difficult and stressful and there’s no time to sit and relax because relaxing gets you stressed out over the things you should be doing. Right now I’ve had to record a week's worth of new episode’s for my regular show, retaking at least half of the scenes more than once, kept up my social media so my fans could follow what’s going on, update my Youtube channel with something just to keep people happy, and everything else I have to deal with on a daily basis like constant hair, makeup and charging with repair here and there, and it was horrible.

It’s taken so much out of me that right now all I can do is lay on the couch with a plug in the back of my neck and sob. Everything should be glamour and glitz, I should be strutting on stage with all the confidence in the world yet here I am having another panic attack on the couch. I thought being a robot should have made me more confident and outgoing but I’m still getting fucked by my anxieties and stress. At this point was any of it really worth it? I should just quit.

“H-hey uh…Mettaton…” There’s a deep voice looming over me but I don’t want to move my arms away from my eyes, Sans was the last person I wanted to see right now. I curled up into the inside of the couch and tried to hold back a soft cry, this was so much worse, then the asshole just sat down right next to my legs.

“How are you doing? Uhm, are you okay?” He lifted up his hand as if he was going to try to comfort me, but decided against it and ran it through his hair. This wasn’t the first time he’s had to deal with me like this and I regret not having made it to my guest room before collapsing on the sofa.

“I-I-I’m fine, you moron I-” I let out a pathetic sob, biting my lip as I try to breathe. It’s been awhile since my last panic attack, and I was trying my best to just cope right now. My body is all locked up, I couldn’t move a gear if I wanted to, I was struggling to get air into my synthetic lungs and soon the water in my system was going to run out. It was like I could feel every error in my system, and my soul was threatening to burst out of its container.

“What do you need? Do you need food or water, or uh do you need something else?” He’s trying, and honestly I really do appreciate it. My mind is just so erratic and all over the place that I can’t even answer him properly, I know what I want and he’d do anything to at least calm me down but the words won’t form and I’m getting even more frustrated that I curl up tighter, digging my nail in my arms to try and pull myself together and say just a couple words that he could work with.

“Else-something else…uhm…I-I-I-I-“ I can feel my speech skipping, the mechanical click and buzzing, tears welling up more. A hand reaches around my sides and pulls me into his lap slowly, as I keep making that awful repetitive sound. He gives me a look, I can’t tell if it’s pity or if he genuinely cares, and wipes my tears away like the shitty little monster he is.

“Let’s take this slow okay? Focus on me, just look at me.” Sans pecks a kiss on my forehead for whatever reason and gets to work. With his nails he easily pries off the panel on the front of my neck, revealing tangled up cords and wires that he carefully starts to untangle.

Life has been very strange for me. I’ve been “On Air” for only a handful of years now. The woman who created me was a genius, she had taken the lingering essence of my soul and fashioned a new body for me, and it was flawless. I wasn’t made the way other robots were made, one of a kind sugar, and although Dr. Alphys is a genius she wasn’t the one who started on project ‘Mettaton’.

Let’s go back further, to a time when I was less clicking gears and more flesh and blood. I had once been a living, breathing human being, capable of thought and dreams, and were my dreams were big. I lived with my two cousins and we had a fantastic plan to make our dreams come true; Blooky would be on keyboard, Dummy would play guitar, and I was going to be the star. Shining, confident, the best thing that’s ever graced televisions across the globe, people would be screaming my name wherever I went: I was going to be fantastic.

It was perfect, nothing stood in our way, that is until the war came. It was sudden, the three of us tragically perished in a bombing, our home collapsed in on us when we couldn’t get out fast enough as bombs started to sprinkle the city. When I woke up I found my body smashed to pieces along with all our hopes and dreams, so I left, took my non-corporeal form and started looking for someone who could piece me back together. Stuff always gets a little hazy after this.

As far as I know I found someone who could get the job done, and I was with them for a long time. There isn’t much I can remember, just that after a certain point I felt lonely for a really long time.

The next time I opened my eyes I could feel again. My hands felt solid and there was a woman half as tall as me absolutely beaming and the first thing she said to me was “Happy Birthday”. Dr. Alphys somehow found the research, recreated it, and put me in a body I could never have achieved on my own.

It took time to get used to everything again, the world had changed and I along with it. I had to reshape myself into a person again, and it would be months until I met someone other than my dear Alphys.

But this isn’t important right now, because you’re having a panic attack in your stupid friend’s arms and you need to stop disassociating so that you can get better.

“Mettaton, hey babe look at me, you’re here okay? You’re with me, today, and you need to breathe.” I take in a fast and deep breath, choking on my own saliva for a minute. My heart's still racing and I’m trembling in Sans’ arms. I keep trying to even out my breathing in between hiccuping sobs.

I look at him, and focus on what Sans looks like in front of me now. He’s short, almost laughably short, and has a round body. His skin is a dark brown, and with his round face he reminds me of a chestnut. His hair was a little more on the straighter side, and he had the edgy half shaved head thing that made him look at least a little bit sexy. He’s pretty popular on Youtube, and with his brother they call themselves the Skeleton Bros. I couldn’t stand living in a laboratory with Dr. Alphys, as much as I loved her, so I planted myself in their cozy wooden home without any protest from shorter one whatsoever. And with that recollection all of my stress came back in a wave; stalker fans, endless hours, and way too many close calls.

“Sans-Sans I-can you-uhm,” I try again, but right now there was only one thing I needed from him so I swallowed my pride and reached up to hug him tightly, burying my face in the side of his neck.

“I got you TT, I got you.” He holds me close and hesitantly strokes down my back.

The two of us stay like that for a bit longer, and I start to calm down. Sans has his hand resting on my back and is trying to avoid looking directly at me, and I could feel myself relaxing. I’m exhausted as hell but I needed to get up soon, so I let out a long hiss of pressure and shift around enough to rest on the smaller man’s chest.

It felt nice, being held in his arms. I haven’t had much time to find a significant other that I could just sit with and be together for any length of time. I’m in the glorious position where I could find anyone I wanted and bring them home for the night, but it wasn’t the same. There was nobody I could open up to. Alphys was an important person to me, but it was hard to connect sometimes. Papyrus is so sincere and genuine that I feel like I can’t burden him with my problems because he’s just too bright. While Sans is...he’s something completely different.  
“Sans…I need to destress.” I groan and pull the plug from the back of my neck with a soft click and drop it to the floor.

“Does that mean-“ He raises an eyebrow as I purposefully remove myself from him.

“Yeah right you little monster, can you just get me some water? When’s Papy getting here, he’ll lose his shit if he sees me like this,” I sat up, deadweight on the couch with heavy lidded eyes. Honestly I would love to get absolutely destroyed by some hot bara babe right now but Sans was probably more trouble than it was worth.

“Okay, I can text him and see if he’s on his way home.” Sans stood up, giving me a shit eating grin before walking to the kitchen.

I reached up and grabbed my phone from the back of the couch and glanced at my reflection. My body is made of a sort of synthetic material that's very pliant, and through electrical stimulation based on the waves my soul emits it can move and change according to those emotions or movements. It doesn’t feel like skin, and because of my inner machinery going full blast I tend to be on the warmer side to the human touch, but it’s the best science can give me, though it is a dull grey. My hair is just a strong synthetic material that looks and feels like real hair. My more intimate parts were installed later on as per my request, and are retractable on command. They are fortunately very close to the real thing, which I cannot thank the doctor more than enough for. My eyes-

“Hey robo-babe, we don’t need you having another attack alright?” Sans pulled the phone out of my hand before I even noticed he was there. “Bro’s gonna be here in probably fifteen minutes, so I suggest you fix your makeup and collect yourself before he bursts in with dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah just...give me a minute okay?” I raked a hand through my hair and let out another long breath. I was more than out of it, I couldn’t stay in one place, I needed to focus or else I’d have to deal with the sentient cinnamon roll doting over me. I took the water bottle from his hand and gulped it down. I could feel it distributing and refilling things in my system and felt a little better.

Papyrus was brother number two of the two man group, and he had a lot more feelings than his brother. Not that Sans was heartless or anything, it’s just that Papy had more feelings in his left hand than any human being on earth combined. He was an absolute delight to be around, and the two of them together radiated happiness and laughter, but the man was absolutely exhausting sometimes. It was easy to overwhelm me when I’m trying to relax at home, and I find myself very short fused with the pair on my more stressful days. Papy is sort of the opposite of his brother, he’s extremely tall and lanky, slightly taller than me in fact. His skin is a little bit warmer than Sans’, and he has a nice, well-groomed shaved head. He’s an absolute dork though, wearing a ripped up bandana with every outfit because it makes him feel strong, but I find it endearing.

“You know you can talk to me right? I’m not just your housemate, we’re your friends TT, I mean even I open up more than you do.” He nestled his head into his furry jacket, much like a turtle would do, a bad habit of his when he’s nervous.

“I’m fine Sans, I don’t need to talk, I need to go over my script and finish up that sketch for the video we’re doing next week. It’s just been busy, I’ll be okay.” I pushed the bad thoughts away and came back to reality. I have a job, and I have to do it because I promised I would be a star, to both myself and my cousins. With a little more effort than it should have taken I got up, brushed past the man and trudged up to the bathroom.

________________________________________________________________

“So because we were short staffed I, The Great Papyrus! decided it was my duty to be both cook AND serve! I was racing from kitchen to table like a man on a mission! There was spaghetti everywhere, meatballs rolled across the kitchen floor, plates were smashed! At the end of rush hour the boss congratulated me on my work, and because I did so good he asked me to never do it again! ” Halfway down the stairs I could see the two brothers sitting at the dinner table. Papyrus was rambling on about his day as usual, and he had brought plenty of leftover Italian from his job, as expected.

Sans was laughing into his jacket, pounding his fist on the table. “I guess she wanted you to gnocchi was fedupchini with you.” 

“This is the worst! How can you even think of a pun at a time like this!?” He was frothing at how horrible Sans’ puns were and I couldn’t blame him.

Sans was breathing hard, whipping the corner of his eyes and I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the two of them. His eyes darted over to me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I had cleaned up okay, threw on a new shirt with some short shorts. Papy’s eyes followed his brother’s and he shot out of his chair.

“Mettaton! Sans told me you were busy with work so I didn’t call you down for dinner, I hope that it’s okay with you. I left yours in the fridge, I can go heat it up if you want it!” He bounded over to me, and I readied myself for another one of his metal denting hugs but he stopped right before and played it off with a nervous laugh.

“Darling I’m fine,” I took his hands in mine, Sans probably told him I wasn’t feeling okay, the little monster. “You just sit down and keep talking, I can get it.” I pushed him back to his seat with a smile and kissed the top of his head. “Did you have a good day today?” I stepped into the kitchen, going right for the fridge.

“Well it was going wonderfully until Sans and his puns joined the conversation,” he narrowed his eyes at his brother who just kept smirking, “I managed to watch your newest episode on my break! Fantastic as always! I loved the part you were in!”

“I was in the entire thing Papy” I laughed, pulling out a tinfoil container filled with spaghetti. Food was weird for me, I could still eat and it still gave me nutrition but it was different, I usually tried not to think too much about it.

“Exactly! The entire thing was great!” He triumphantly shoved lukewarm pasta into his mouth, satisfied with his compliment. “You know,” he swallowed it down with a long drink of soda, “you’re a really good actor, I always love seeing the things you’re in.”

“Why Papy my dear, I’m flattered.” I plopped the food onto a plate and tossed it in the microwave. “I’ll have you know though, it takes a lot more than a couple sweet words to win me over,” I winked, leaning on the breakfast bar.

“Oh TT I was wondering,” Sans had been done with leftovers since I joined them, so he was sipping on his own can of soda. “You get a lot of trouble from fans hitting on you, or worse, right?”

One of the main reasons for my attack earlier had been because of a close call with an overzealous fan. He had hid inside my dressing room, waiting for me to finish recording, and ambushed me while I was taking off my makeup. I was low on charge so my body wasn’t moving quick enough to respond, it was a miracle that my manager had checked up on me when she did or else things would have gotten a lot more dangerous. He got kicked out but I had been so shaken up that one of my bodyguards had to scope out the house before I went in just to make sure nobody was inside hiding.

I crumpled up the tin foil container and threw it away, my hands almost trembling. “Y-yeah what about it?” I started to chew on my bottom lip.

“I had an idea, and I dunno about you but it seemed like a pretty good plan.” Sans now had an awful smirk on his face which could only mean bad news.

“Why don’t you get a boyfriend?” Papyrus’s jaw dropped comically, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Really? That’s your genius plan?” I turned around to take out the microwaved pasta and sat down next to Papy. “You do know that I’m a very busy man right? I can’t just grab anyone and call them my boyfriend, it takes a very calculated decision and they have to be just as spectacular as I am!” I posed dramatically in my chair, to which the taller brother clapped happily.

“That’s a fantastic idea Sans!” Papy was unusually excited about this.

“What do you mean dear?” My leg started to lower, I felt like I was missing something.

Sans stretched and put his arms behind his head, “Simple, you don’t need to too far to find some “spectacular” candidates, right Pap?”

I looked between the two, no they couldn’t mean-

“Mettaton!” Papyrus shot out of his chair, slamming his hands down on the table, and grinning out of his mind. It shocked me, and I let out an awful dial up screech. 

“Oops, sorry,” He laughed nervously, then went back to his tense expression, “Mettaton. What Sans is trying to say is you have two very popular and very handsome men by your side that could pose as your boyfriend, and/or boyfriends, that would not only be believable but also would make a lot of fans across platforms very happy. AlsoIwouldreallyliketogoondateswithyouandmaybekissbutthat’scompletelyuptoyou-cough!” The man was positively beaming, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm and purpose.

“Two handsome men hmm? Oh! You mean my bodyguards don't you!” I grinned, enjoying Papy’s flustered reaction.

“I-no I-I didn’t mean-no, I-I meant me, the Great Papyrus! and my brother Sans!” He was blushing this time.

Honestly I was a little bit interested in this ridiculous plan. It was way better than having to go actively searching for a main squeeze, and like Pap said it would do wonders for the moral of our fans. The brothers definitely benefited from it just as much as I did, and all I had to do is flirt a little more, give a couple recorded kisses, show up to events together which we already generally did, and make an announcement. Hell we could even make it official after dinner it was so easy. I took a minute to think it over, starting to eat my now cold spaghetti.

The only problem would be which brother, or if I wanted both. I’ve always loved the idea of polyamory, especially if I was the center, and it’s always good to have positive representation in the media. It also meant double the affection, and double the kisses, which wasn’t a problem either, especially since Papy already had an absolutely adorable crush on me and I would love to get chummy with the lanky skelebro. I guess the real problem was Sans.

I have some complicated feelings with Sans. The older brother was very much an enigma to everyone, even his closest friends. Alphys even admitted she didn’t know much about the guy, just that when she moved here years ago she bought the old lab from Sans, who was the official owner, and it included all of the old equipment, and that when she asked how long he’s lived there he just shrugged. Papyrus insisted the two of them were born and raised in Snowdin, but there were a lot of holes in his story verses what Sans has said.

That being said Sans wasn’t that good of a person, as far as how I felt. He was rude, annoying, nosy, and didn’t care much about anyone but his brother. He lied way too much, payed too much attention to his surroundings, and always smiled. Everything he is, does, and says gets me so angry I want to destroy the little monster, or at least, that’s how I want to feel. 

Sans was honestly really kind hearted, and he never made anyone feel like they weren’t welcomed. He put others in front of himself, and has helped me countless times. It was just…

I put down my fork and tipped my head back in a long sigh. This whole plan was going to backfire on me and I knew it. I’m a depressed, anxiety ridden ghost pretending to be a self absorbed robot diva, about to try and convince millions of fans that I’m hopelessly in love with a couple of dorky brothers that play video games on youtube for a living. What could possibly go wrong?

“Alright, I guess I’m dating the Skeleton Brothers now.” I gave Sans a soft smile as Papyrus cheered.

These nerds were going to be the death of me.


	2. The execution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I should upload more chapters, since I'm already writing chapter 5 so don't expect any rhyme or reason to it. It might end up with a higher rating, depending on how the story goes but for now I'm just keeping it Teen for cussing (it'll probably end up with a couple sex scenes later on)

“Simple enough right? We’ll announce it on the stream tonight, and just to cover our bases send out a tweet, then when TT goes in for his interview he’ll get asked about it so he’ll spill his side of the story.” Sans leaned back confidently. It was a pretty solid plan, and there wasn’t much that could go wrong.

“Alright,” I popped my lips, and capped my black lipstick, “whose first?” Papy raised his hand with a goofy smile on his face. “Here you go sugar.” I chuckled, and pressed my lips against his cheek making a big kiss mark. He looked in his phone camera and giggled, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey I’m next.” Sans smiled up at me, and I worried my lips together. I gave a slight grimace, what a little monster, I pulled him close and gave him a gross, wet kiss on the cheek. “Hey come on!” He laughed as he tried to get away.

“That’s what you get for your stupid plan!” I put him down and re-applied my lipstick. I really didn’t want to admit it but I had was starting to get nervous. The thought of feeling anything romantic toward either one of them had never even crossed my mind (other than in the biblical sense).

“Okay everybody, positions!” Papyrus gave me his phone and kneeled next to me, and Sans took the other side. “Ready!” The two of them smooshed their lips against my cheeks as I held a hand over my mouth and took the picture. They both looked at the camera to see it, and it looked really good, we made a pretty cute couple-trio? group? Whatever.

Sans gave Pap a confident nod and he took the phone, and sent the picture to Sans for him to post later.

“Alright, I’ll do this after we finish today’s live stream. Now this part is completely optional TT, but it would make everything go even smoother if you came on with us, just for tonight. It wouldn’t look good if we had you on for a couple minutes then left” Sans rubbed off the lipstick with his sleeve, smearing the black on the blue of his jacket.

“Yeah Mettaton, it’ll be a blast! Plus we haven't had you on in quite some time, I’m sure everyone misses you!” Papyrus started taking up the dirty dishes and throwing away the trash. I stopped him as he went by, licking my thumb and cleaning off my kiss mark.

“I don’t know hun, I’ve got to get something out on my own channel. I’m already so behind.” I liked coming on their streams, we always had a really great time.

“Just send out a tweet then, tell everyone your video today is the stream, c’mon robo-babe.” Sans stretched and started towards the stairs.

I sighed, and checked my phone. It was still pretty early, I had an hour or two to spare. “Alright, I should probably change-”

“No! You’re perfect Mettaton!” Papy took my hands.

“But I’m just wearing whatever clothes, I can’t go in front of a camera without looking my best, you know that darling.” I frowned.

“Exactly! Fans like to see their idols as human, and you’re a robot, which is the opposite of human! If people see you dressing the way anyone else would when they’re home then they’ll connect with you more.” His eyes sparkled. Papy was smarter than people gave him credit sometimes, but it was really just because he thought a little differently about things than others did.

“Okay, I’ll stay in this then my dear,” I squeezed his hand gently and made a point to sway my hips a little more as I walked to the stairs. 

Upstairs Sans was setting up in Papyrus’s room. They had three mics, one camera angled at a loveseat, and various consoles with matching remotes.

“Do you have a time and link yet?” I draped myself across the loveseat, fishing my phone out of my pocket. Sans gave me the info, and I tweeted it out then put down my phone.

I didn’t really understand anything at this point. I’ve been nothing but nasty to Sans. I work all day, come home late, anytime Papy isn’t home I’m either panicking or doing something self destructive, going out late, sometimes I don’t even come home, and I hardly do anything around the house. Yet here’s Sans, ready to play pretend boyfriend for me to make things easier on me. What an idiot.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” At the moment it was just me and Sans, Papy was downstairs cleaning up the table while he waited.

“Why not? It’s not like anything could get worse.” He shrugged, fixing the microphones and light.

“It’s already worse, now I have to pretend to be dating you of all people.” I scoffed, I was laying on the loveseat that was set in front of the computer. I was flipping through mettasans fanart on my phone, purely out of curiosity.

“Hey, you can’t handle this,” he winked, gesturing to himself. “And if it’s going to be a problem, you can just pretend date bro instead, nobody forced you to pick me.”

I couldn’t stand him, in just a second all my pent up rage was brought to the surface. I slammed my phone down, “Pick you? Of course I wouldn’t pick a snotty little monster like you, not after what you did to me! I only agreed because Papy suggested it first!” 

“Don’t act like that was my fault, it was because you-” he turned to say something but I was not having it.

“No, you don’t have the right to pretend like I did anything wrong, I wasn’t doing _anything_ wrong and you decided that you’d take my feelings and shit all over them for whatever stupid reason. All Papyrus has wanted is for us to get along, and if this is somehow his way of making that happen I’m going to be the bigger man and at least try!” I hissed, not wanting to yell too loud in fear that Papyrus might hear.

I was reborn in my robot form five years ago. With a limited memory and having only been 16 when I died, I was an emotional wreck. It took a lot of time and patience from Alphys to get me stable enough to meet another human being, and I was only “two” whenever she decided it would be best if I moved out of the lab and met some new people. I was almost begging to get out anyway, the lab had always made me feel uneasy, I always felt like something was there watching me.

Enter Sans and Papyrus, they lived ten minutes away and had an extra room to spare. It had taken a lot of pleading on Aphys’s part to get Sans to even meet me, let alone live with them. At this point in my life I was still a mess, I would wake up violently from nightmares, I’d forget things, I could never remember to recharge my battery, I had to be looked after 24/7. Nobody wants to take care of someone they don’t even know, especially when they aren’t even human.

Sans acted very coldly to me, and would only make sure I wasn’t causing him any problems’ at first. It didn’t take him long to realize I needed emotional support, and he quickly became my mother hen. That is, until two years ago.

By this point I was doing great. I didn’t need constant supervision, and I was starting my career as a star, which meant I could finally help pay for things. The three of us were already like a family, spending time together and sharing meals. We were all really happy, but that came to a screeching hault. 

I was rising in popularity, which meant I was getting very popular with the common populace, which meant I was able to pick up any human being I desired. It wasn’t like I was a sex maniac, but I would have the occasional lay or two now and then. Most of the time I’d send the boys a text saying I’d be at a hotel for the night because I was out of town, but one day it just couldn’t wait.

It was really late, and I was probably acting a little stupid. For some reason I thought if we just did something quick on the couch nobody would be the wiser, and I could have a bit of fun in the comfort of my own home. That was a horrible decision.

Halfway through our tussle on the couch, Sans shows up out of nowhere, screaming. He’s yelling at the guy to leave, to never come back or else he’ll wish he were dead. The guy throws on his clothes as best he can and bolts out the door and drives off.

I scream back, because it wasn’t fair. There’s no reason for him to get so mad, I’m an adult now, I can make my own decisions. Papyrus comes down asking what’s going on right before Sans calls me “nothing but a cheap sex machine” along with another stream of disgusting insults. He punches Sans and takes me up to his bedroom for the night, and I cry until the sun rises.

From that day on everything felt distant. Sans always made sure Papyrus was in between us when we walked, or sat together. We wouldn’t talk to eachother anymore, I was waiting for an apology that never came. Then I got my own tv show and things skyrocketed for my career, and I didn’t have any time for domestic life anymore. It was nonstop climbing, my youtube channel was put on the backburner, Sans was put on the backburner, everything that was important to me was suddenly the last thing on my mind.

Now I was angry all over again. “Why do you keep doing this to me? You push me away everytime I get close to you! I still don’t even know what I did wrong!”

Sans turned around and kept fiddling with the setup. He was doing that stupid thing where he wouldn’t let me get a read on him.

“I wasn’t in my right mind that day Mettaton-we’ll talk about this later. I’m not trying to push you away.” He mumbled, “I just think you’d be happier with him rather than me.” I wanted to see his face, maybe I could read him better that way but he wasn’t looking at me.

“I’m a big boy Sans,” I laid back down, picking up my phone again. “I’ll work with you if you work with me.” I checked myself in the front cam.

“Fine, don’t say I didn’t give you the option to opt out.” He shrugged and started to tweet out the link for the livestream we were about to start for the Skeleton Bros channel. We figured we could use the publicity and make the announcement first thing so we needed as many viewers as we could get.

I got to work on my part, retweeting the link and fueling the hype with some of my own hints at the big announcement. I went back on the mettasans tag again, preparing myself for the kind of questions we were probably going to get. There was a clear difference between the papyton and mettasans ships. It was funny, it was really day and night how “I” would treat Papy verses Sans. It didn’t do much to get my mind away from Sans though.

I still don’t know why he had gotten so angry at me. We never spoke about it again, and I don’t even know if Papyrus ever got an answer from Sans as to why he flipped out. At this point I’m just angry, I’m not a real robot I can have my own thoughts and feelings. The question right now is why he wants me to be with Papyrus, considering how he felt last time he saw me with someone. Papyrus only recently started to openly flirt with me, but maybe Sans is just looking out for his brother. That has to be it.

“Bro! We’re ready!” Sans called out, flipping on the camera and taking the keyboard and controllers and sitting down on the other side of the couch. I locked my phone and put it in my pocket right as Papyrus vaulted over the back of the loveseat and plopped down in between us.

“Welcome friends! To the Skeleton Bros live stream!” Papyrus exclaimed, “My name is Papyrus!”

“And I’m Sans.”

“And today we have our most dearest friend whom we adore Mettaton joining us!” I blew a kiss to the camera and waved.

“We’re going to start things off a little differently so we’re gonna wait for more people to join.” Sans started up the game in the background, not putting it on the screen yet.

“That’s right! We have some important announcements to make!” Papy beamed at me.

“Yes darlings, the first one is that we’ll be uploading another skit by the end of the month, staring me of course.” I chuckled.

“We now have t-shirts for sale!” Papyrus leaned over and pulled a cardboard box out from under the desk and rummaged around for a couple of the shirts. He tossed me one and I looked it over before putting it on, I was wearing a tank top already and this was an MTT™ brand crop top with my prototype form on it with “Sexy Rectangle” underneath.

“You can get all of these and more!” Papy held the other ones up, they were quotes from their let’s play series like “geeettttttt dunked on!!!” and “you’re meeting all my standards!”.

“Not to mention my stuff is limited edition, so get them quick before the month ends.” I put my arms above my head and posed.

“There’s a link to the store on our page, but I’m putting it at the bottom of the screen too.” Sans said, copy pasting it in a text bar.

“I think there’s enough people now,” Sans looked over at me.

“Okay. Well ladies, gentlemen and everything inbetween, we have a very special announcement that we’ve been waiting to share with all of you fabulous people.” I gave a big grin, dramatically flipping my hair. “You see the three of us,” I stopped to pose, “have decided,” I struck another one, “to start dating!” I finished with one leg pointing at the ceiling and the other draped across the brother’s laps.

“Let’s be clear, me and bro aren’t going out, because that’s incest and illegal.” Sans shrugged and shook his head.  
“Yes, I’m dating both my dear Papyrus and my gorgeous Sans.” I batted my eyes at them. “I hope everyone will respect our decision and keep supporting us, now watch me kick the shit out of these nerds at Mario Kart.” I took back my legs and grabbed a remote as Sans switched the capture to the game.

We had a lot of fun, and I finally felt myself be able to relax for the first time in weeks. The people in the chat were extremely supportive, and moderators were flagging those that weren’t being so great. Soon enough we were getting the more intimate questions popping up here and there.

“So skeletonfucker69 asks: who is the best kisser out of the two of them? I’m assuming that’s at me.” I smiled, taking a break from destroying the brothers on their own stream to read some comments.

“Obviously it’s me,” Sans grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

“In your dreams brother!” Papyrus gave him a friendly glare.

“Darlings, there’s only one way to settle this, Papyrus will you lean a little bit forwards?” I angled the laptop down so it wouldn’t get in the way.

“Anything for you my dear-” I pulled him in for a slow kiss, which made him red from his neck to his forehead. I took my sweet time, partly for the camera and partly because this was our first proper kiss (and I’m sure he’s dreamed of this since we first met). 

After giving him a good, long assessment I pulled away, looking up at him through half lidded eyes. He was currently trying to process what had happened, face beet red and lips curled in a confused and ecstatic smile.

I didn’t even have time to say anything before I felt a hand cup my cheek and Sans’ lips were on mine. It was my turn to blush now, he looked dangerously handsome with his eyes closed, thumb brushing against my cheek. I got lost in the feeling, kissing him back with just as much fervor as he was kissing me. My brain was feeling fuzzy, and I hardly even noticed him pull away at first, almost clamoring to chase after his lips.

“I think it’s clear who the winner is.” Sans said without a second thought, unpausing the game.

I looked back to Papyrus who was still a little flushed, but mostly pouting at his loss. Wow. That was…

Before I knew it our time was up, and we were saying goodbye to whoever was still in the chat.

“That’s our last round and if you want to see more of our video go to our daily youtube channel SkeletonBros, if you want to see more of Mettaton go to MTTTM, thank you everyone for joining us, thank you TT for being here, and goodnight.” Sans and Papyrus waved to the camera while I blew a kiss and the screen went dark.

“And that’s how you convince a large spread audience that you have two boyfriends.” Sans stretched his arms out, popping his knuckles. “That was a pretty good stream.” He yawned, starting to shut everything down.

“Yeah! It was a lot of fun wasn’t it Mettaton?” Papyrus took my hand, slightly less excited than ten minutes ago, probably just as exhausted.

“Oh, yeah I had a good time.” I was still a little foggy headed from those kisses, my mind a mess from the brothers.

“You should really come on more often-”

“You know he can’t bro, he’s got a lot of important things to do.” Sans interrupted him, which was really out of character.

Papyrus’s gaze lowered, knowing full well that he was right. I couldn’t stand that puppy face look, so without thinking I lifted his chin and gave him another chaste kiss. “Don’t worry Papy, I’ll come back on again soon enough. Works just been really busy lately, I promise I’ll play with you guys again.”

I was speaking out of my ass, I had no idea when I could possibly come back on. Even now I still had a ton of work to do, and I only came on to announce my fake boyfriend situation.

“Well!” He perked up, “I don’t mind waiting! Especially if I get rewarded with kisses.” He blushed.

I squeezed his hand and gave him a light smile before letting out a big yawn, “Ah-lright, I’m going to bed then, I’ve got an interview in the morning but I’ll be home early I hope.” I got up from the couch and stretched.

“Goodnight Mettaton.” Papy beamed up at me.

“Goodnight Papy,” I kissed his forehead and headed to the door before stopping. “Goodnight Sans.”

“G’night TT,” his voice was muffled, he was putting controllers back in the bin under the desk.

Today had been a long day. I closed the door behind me and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be hard, wasn’t it? Of course it was, nothing’s ever easy when it comes to garbage like love and stuff. I couldn’t say I was in love with either one of them, but I was definitely attracted to them.

Sans was a problem. I’d been civil towards him for all this time, I even almost forgot about what happened until earlier, I was ready to forgive him. Now I feel like I’m back to square one, but the thing that bothered me the most was that when he kissed me it was almost...familiar?

_//_

 _“So if you’re not bound to any specific place why don’t you leave?” A figure asked the apparition, furrowing his brow._

_“What do you mean?” The ghost asked._

_“You could go anywhere, you don’t have to worry about anything, being noncorporeal and all. You can visit Paris, Beijing, Sydney, anywhere you want, but right now you’re just here; in a lab with two boring scientists doing mundane tasks.” He gestured to the other scientist across the room._

_“Oh, well there’s only one thing I want and that’s a body. I don’t mind the company, and besides if I wasn’t here you’d probably screw around all day with some crazy experiments. I’d rather just stay here, at least it’s better than being alone.” The ghost mumbled._

_“That’s probably true....” He smiled slightly, laying his hand where the ghost’s was, pretending he was holding their hand._

_//_


	3. The interview

It was only 7 and the shitstorm was in full swing. I arrived at the set for my interview and flipped through my phone as makeup did my face. I had a bunch of texts from other celebrities wondering the details of how I came to have not just one but two boyfriends out of the blue. I skipped over all of those, instead opting to text Alphys who had sent an awkward congratulations.

**Anime trashlord:** Saw the news, I wasn’t expecting something like that but I’m sure you’ll all be happy together. Call me when you get the chance! (Btw I just started watching this new show you reaaally need to check it out omfg its the fucking best!)

**MTT:** Tbh it’s not what you think, at all, no way would I actually have romantic feelings whatsoever for Sans in my life, but I’ll call after my interview to clear things up.

**Anime trashlord:** Oh??? Now I’m even more curious! I saw the livestream, seemed more than just romantic B)

**MTT:** Oh my god Alphy, it was horrible, awful, I wanted to puke, please remove that from my memory whenever I get my next checkup

**Anime trashlord:** Suuurrree TT

A message from Papyrus popped up.

**Papy <3:** I know that I shouldn’t be using my phone during work but I couldnt help it!!! I wanted to tell my amazing boyfriend that I LOVE HIM!!! And that he should have an AMAZING DAY AT WORK!!! (Followed by a string of heart emojis)

**MTT:** I love you too Papy, see you at home (Kiss emoji)

“We’re live in ten! Places!” I locked my phone and put it in a compartment in my thigh. No way in hell was I ever going to misplace my phone if it was inside my body, especially when the paparazzi were all over me today. The woman doing my makeup finished and I thanked her as she left me to change. For the sake of everyone else during my regular tv appearances and interviews I always used my EX form, which was originally created as a defense mechanism in the original blueprints (as far as Alphys told me) and it acted as a fashionable armor over my synthetic skin. People were used to seeing robots as metallic and blocky, and I never had to worry about picking out an outfit for every show.

With a groggy yawn I made my way over to the set. There was a man already sitting there flipping through a bunch of papers. I’ve only been interviewed once or twice from this company so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was ready for anything. I sat myself down in the chair across from him and stretched my arms above my head.

“It’s great to have you Mettaton, I’m a big fan, I’d love it if afterwards I could get an autograph for my nephew.” He gave me a stiff smile as he shook my hand.

“Of course, always happy to.” I smiled back as they called time and we started the interview.

“So I’m just gonna hit you with questions and we’ll only air certain ones so I’ll just start with the easy ones first okay?” I gave him a nod and crossed my legs.

“Everybody knows that you’re a robot of many talents: singing, performing, hosting, cooking, recently acting, is there anything else that you have hidden in your programming or anything you haven’t revealed?”

“Well recently I’ve been so busy that it can be hard to do any more,” I laughed. “As you might know I also have a Youtube were I do collaborations with the Skeleton Bros, a let’s play duo, where sometimes I go on their show there or we do different skits and videos-those are a lot of fun. I write most of those myself, so I guess I’m a bit of a script writer. I’ve wanted to do another album for awhile now, but like I said there’s no time. It’s such a shame there’s so much I want to do.” I held back a sigh. It was true though, even though I’m stressed out all the time I still have so much left I want to do. At times I wished I was a hundred percent robotic, that way I’d be able to go 24/7 without rest.

“Okay so about the Skeleton Brothers, a lot of people watched your live stream, I know I did! It seemed to get heated at one point, then there were those announcements.”

“Yes! Yes there was!” I grinned, shifting in my seat.

“Tell us about that! In case you don’t know, Mettaton is now officially dating both of the members of the Skeleton Brothers; Sans and Papyrus Elton.”

“Yes, so here’s the thing, we streamed last night at about 9 and it was totally normal, but we decided that it would be the best time for us to announce our relationship officially. I do genuinely have feeling for the two of them, and they have feelings for me so right now we’re just testing the waters and making it work because you know it can be hard to start a relationship with your best friend, let alone two of them.” I put on a brave face, but inside my heart was pounding. There were a million things that could go wrong from here and I had to be able to face it all.

“That’s wonderful, congratulations! Have you had any problems yet with fans or even maybe family members?”

“No not so much, definitely not family, Dr. Alphys knows me really well and the two of them don’t have any other living family members. I know during the stream a lot of people were sending their best wishes and how much they look up to us and everything but I hope they respect us as people and keep supporting us.”

“Now I know it must be different for you though right? You’re a robot, so is there some sort of special coding involved with love, and are you at all worried that Dr. Alphys may have input this as some sort of experiment?”

I swallowed hard. This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. 

“Doctor um...Dr. Alphys is as close to me as a real mother, and the last thing she would do is something without my consent. I’m not property, I’m sentient-I am capable of my own thoughts and feelings without an outside source.”

“Yes but you’re still a robot, I’m no scientist but there must be something technical involved, it doesn’t just happen.” He scoffed, clearly going off script at this point.

“Okay let me tell you what the difference between you and me is, I am a highly successful hit celebrity with multiple tv shows, a successful youtube channel, legions of loyal fans, and you are an interviewer that can easily be replaced. I may not have DNA or popped out of a pussy but I am a person with rights and beliefs, and I won’t sit here and be treated like I’m just any other robot on the market because clearly I’m not.” I was fuming. Me and Alphys decided it’d be best not to tell anyone that I was pretty much just a ghost in a walking tin can but this was something that happened too frequently to be comfortable. Some people didn’t see me as a human being because they don’t think I was anything other than a robot.

“I-I-I’m so sorry Mettaton I swear I didn’t mean to make it to be like that, don’t worry we’ll cut that out how about everyone takes 5 and cool off alright?” He clearly was trying to save face.

“Oh, no, yeah I just need to make a quick call anyway.” I pulled out my phone and stood, already calling my manager.

“Wait wait we haha we don’t really need to do that do we? Come on I’m a huge fan, I didn’t mean anything by it-” I stopped him with a finger, walking away as my phone stopped ringing.

“H0I! It’s Temmie! What’s up, how’s it going?” She pipped up from the other end.

“Yeah I’m having a bit of an issue, it’s a code grey.” I casually glanced over my nails, turning my hand over.

“Oooooh that’s not good, let me take care of that reaaal quick.” The phone was put on hold for a few minutes before her voice came back again, “Done! So you don’t have to finish the interview unless you really want to, I’ll make sure the rest gets smoothed out.”

“Yeah, it’s just the last two questions that didn’t go so well. Alright well I’ll just move forward then, I’ve got to get home as soon as I can. Thanks darling, you’re a lifesaver! I’ll call you if anything else comes up then!” I had a light day, but it was just going to take longer if I stayed.

“Temmie out!” She hung up.

Turning around I found the interviewer sweating bullets, “My manager will get back with you and your company about what parts you get to keep. I probably won’t have another interview for your company again. Thank you for your time, I hope you can understand why I feel this way.” I walked away and didn’t look back.

**Anime trashlord:** He said that!? Omg i am a responsible woman of science! Wtf, so fucked up

**MTT:** Ikr? 

**Anime trashlord:** Can I like sue for that?

**MTT:** Lol probably not, don’t worry tho everything’s all good now. I feel kinda bad, he might get fired, but that’s what happens whenever you treat someone like shit! Now all I have to do a photoshoot for three hours then I can get home and hopefully not face another shitstorm

**Anime trashlord:** Get some well deserved tlc ;)

**MTT:** Gross, stop shipping me w sans pls

**Anime trashlord:** I’m just saying I think you should give him a chance, I think you’ll be surprised 

**MTT:** What does he have a big dick?

**Anime trashlord:** ;)

**MTT:** Omg just stop u little weirdo

**Anime trashlord:** mettasans otp headcanon sans got a thing for huge asses

**MTT:** Youre the worsstttt

**Anime trashlord:** Love you get back to work 

It felt like I would never get out of that photoshoot. I had a hundred costumes and a hundred different poses, my head was throbbing. The car pulled up to the house and Roy opened up my door. “Thanks,” I mumbled, clearly exhausted. The wind outside felt cold, it was already getting close to fall which meant piles of snow in no time. I stomped up the steps and knocked a couple times, hoping Sans would just open the door for me. Thankfully he did, and I grumbled past him as I curled up on the couch.  
“Long day?” He closed and locked the door. I nodded tiredly and pointed to my charging output, flopping down on the couch.

“Alright your majesty,” Sans chuckled and went upstairs, grabbed my charger and plugged me in. Immediately I felt better, but I was still in a bad mood. Sans sat at the end of the couch, propping my legs on his lap.

“So, how’d it go?” He backed out of whatever he was watching on Netflix.

“Uuughghhhh” I rolled over, rubbing my face into my hands, “Both perfect and horrible.” I got up, grabbed something from the hamper that was by the tv and turned off my EX form, slipping on some boxers and a tank top. I grimaced realizing the boxers were Sans, but flopped on the couch again and put my feet on his lap anyway.

“Okay so I sold the story, that’s all good, there weren't any questions about the legitimacy of the relationship.” I let out another groaning sigh.

“But?” Sans prodded, moving so that he was facing down the couch at me and took one of my feet into his hand and started to massage it. I wanted to glare at him but it felt so nice that I couldn’t even dare to complain.

“But the guy was one of those assholes that only see me as a robot, and insulted Alphys. God I haven’t even looked at how people are handing this, ugh why did we do this, it was a stupid idea.” I crossed my arms over my face.

“No it wasn’t, everyone’s fine with it.” Sans frowned, rubbing my foot. “It’s not easy for us either you know? Me and Papyrus are gonna stay low the next couple days just in case, but Pap is really into this, not even because he likes you.”

“What?” I sat up, voice filled with worry. The last thing I wanted to do was to put them in danger too.

“Relax robo-babe, it’s just precautionary. Besides, he knew you were getting into some really uncomfortable situations, he could see how stressed out you’ve been getting. Bro really cares about you TT, he wants you to come home and relax and tell us when something’s wrong. He wants you to be happy. Not to mention it’s his birthday on Saturday and he has some big party plans.” Sans let go of the one foot, cautiously moving to the next one.  
Papyrus was really giving this his all wasn’t he? The poor guy’s been madly in love with me for months now, and is my dearest friend. Of course it would upset him that I wasn’t telling him how I felt, I’ve just been shutting myself away every time I got home. I almost forgot about his birthday, which made me feel extra shitty. Fuck, he’s probably the one telling Sans to pry me for more information because I won’t tell him anything. Even worse he probably just wants us to be a family again.

“I’m an idiot.” I put my arms over my face again.

“Yes you are.” Sans chuckled.

“When’s he coming home?” I rolled my already massaged foot and cracked my toes.  
“In a couple hours, late shift.” Sans glanced at the clock.

What should I even do at this point? Should I gush my heart out to Sans or wait for Papyrus to come home? Was it even a good idea to confide in them at all?

“Hey robo-babe,” Sans let go of my foot.

“Hm?”

“Do what feels best. Whatever makes you happy.” Sans gave me a soft, genuine smile.

It felt like such a long time since I saw him smile like that. When was the last time that happened? It must of been since before I got mad at him, why did he have to do that to me? It seems so ridiculous now, seeing how sane and sweet he’s being to me right now, smiling.

“Why?” I could feel my eyes start to sting. “Why would you say something so horrible to me all those years ago? Why did you never apologize?”

_//_

_“Hey you’re still here I thought-!” The ghost held their breath while looking into the test room. Inside were two massive animal skulls floating, below them a skeleton wearing a white lab coat._

_“Huh? What’s wrong guys?” The skeleton followed where the skulls were growling at and, if he could have, went white as a sheet. “Oh shit.”_

_“W-What is this, wh-what are you?” The ghost was trembling._

_“I can explain-Mettaton wait!_

_//_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it'd be fun if Temmie was his manager and the two bodyguards were RG 1 and RG 2, and since they're literally just "Royal Guard" I figured I'd name one of them Roy and figure out the other later. (Wait there's totally a fanon name for them by now isn't there? Whatever) I feel like this chapter is just useless filler, I don't like it that much, the next chapter gets lots of fun exposition though so get hype for that, maybe we'll find out what those weird dreams are, maybe we won't, maybe somebody gets laid soon, who knows I'm just making it up as I go :D


	4. The apology

“Why?” I could feel my eyes start to sting. “Why would you say something so horrible to me all those years ago? Why did you never apologize?”

Sans’s face fell, and he took a moment to think it over. “I...I _am_ sorry, you have to believe me. I never meant to treat you like that, and I guess...an apology had just kinda slipped my mind.”

I tried not to get upset, but tears rolled down my cheeks. What a stupid excuse, honestly.

“I know I overreacted, I know I fucked up, and I’ve tried my best to make up for it.”

I shook my head, “No, that’s not good enough Sans. Why did you do that in the first place? Was it because it was your house? Was it because of Papyrus?” I sniffed, wiping the tears away.

“I-fuck...I was just angry. I saw you with another guy and I just-I lost it.” Sans couldn’t even look at me.

I was getting even more mad, I sat up, face twisting with anger. “That’s it? You were just jealous? You thought you could call me a cheap sex machine just because you were jealous?”

“No! That’s not-that’s not all.” He let out a long breath, rubbing his hand over his face. He was silent for awhile, I couldn’t understand why. “Fine I...maybe I was upset because my brother loved you, I was worried that he would hear you, that he would see you with someone else and get upset. I just-I just got carried away, I said some really shitty stuff I didn’t mean in the heat of the moment because I was scared.”

I was frustrated. Something didn’t feel right, even though he seemed so sincere. There was something that didn’t quite fit. It didn’t really matter, I got my apology, I got my explanation. I was ready to put this all behind me.

I rubbed my hands over my face, taking a deep breath. “Okay. It only took you two years, but I forgive you. Now can you stop pushing me away anytime I start to think of you like a normal person?”

Sans gave me a slight smirk, “I guess, but I thought I was a little monster?”

“Well, you’re my little monster.” I smiled back.

He quickly got up and shuffled to the kitchen, “Well this little monster is hungry, and going to go out for something at Grillby’s. Did you want anything while I’m out?” He pulled down his keys from the rack.

It took me a moment to respond, my body felt strange. Everything was fuzzy-and not the good kind of fuzzy, like the out of body kind of fuzzy. I looked down at my hand and tried to bring it up to my face, but my robot arm didn’t move a gear and instead there was a pink see through arm reaching up. My heart skipped a beat, if it could, and I tried my hardest to somehow pull myself together. 

This happened before once, back when I was first getting used to my body. I was walking with the brothers and suddenly I felt weird and they rushed behind me to where my robot body lay crumpled on the snow.

I was rushed to Alphys, and she told me whatever was tethering me to that physical form had been blocked. Not a single person could see me, and everyone was panicked. Through sheer luck I managed to do _something_ and was back in my body before I knew it.

“TT?” Sans peeked around the entrance way to the kitchen.

I focused all of my energy into trying to get back into my body as quick as I could. I wasn’t sure what I was doing or if it was working, but soon enough I felt something click and my circuits spasmed with energy.

“No! I-I’m good!” I laughed nervously, sitting back up as quickly as I could.

Sans gave me a weird look and shrugged. “Fine, I’ll be back later, tell bro I’ve already eaten.”

“Uh, will do.” I gave another suspiciously nervous chuckle, and picked up my phone.

Sans grabbed his coat and zipped it up, then gave me one last wave before heading out. The minute the door closed I frantically called Alphys.

“He~y! So give me all the det-”

“Not now, listen Alphys this is extremely important.” My voice was shaky, my hands trembling as I held the phone up to my ear. “It just happened to me, that thing where I seperated from my physical body. It was only for 20 seconds at _max_ but just the fact that it happened again has me scared out of my mind. What happened? How can I stop this?”

“What!? O-Oh n-no nonono n-no, th-that’s bad, really bad, uhm.” There were sounds of papers fluttering and keyboard keys clacking. “So u-uh last time this happened y-you were dealing with a lot of stress right?”

I had to mentally go back, I was walking with Sans and Papyrus. I had just come from one of my biggest shows and we were celebrating at Grillby’s so we walked there.

“Grillby’s! Sans had just mentioned he was going to Grillby’s!” 

“No, th-that can’t possibly be it, or else that’d happen every single time. M-maybe someone said something? Something that made you dissociate from your body?” She was walking somewhere, her actual keys jangling as she unlocked something.

“Um, okay well back then we were talking about...about Sans. I was asking how long they’d lived in Snowdin and stuff. I don’t know, he said always, Papyrus said that Sans told him they moved there after...after something I don’t know, I think he was trying to say something happened or-god I don’t know Alphys!” My head was starting to throb, something just felt wrong.

“C-C-Calm down Mettaton, y-you don’t want it to happen again.”

“Just-how do I fix this!?”

“Mettaton y-you need to-Mettaton? M-mettaton! Shit, uh I have to call Sans, no Undyne, uh damnit, Mettaton if you’re out of your body just-just stay put I’ll be right there!”

___________________________

I woke up in the lab. This was normal, at this point I’d spent most of my life here. After I died and I found that scientist I was always hanging around in here, after all those two were the only people who could see me. Being a ghost was ridiculously lonely.

“You’re finally up? That’s good, I was wondering what you thought about this new idea I had for your body.” There he was, the very man who I sought after. I floated over to him, my form only vaguely human shaped and wispy.

“What is it?” I leaned over the table he was sitting at, there were blueprints sprawled across it.

“Okay, I can’t take all the credit, Sans put the thought in my head first. He was asking me what I was planning on doing to tethering your ghost to the machine and not worry about it separating.” He pointed at a heart shaped hole in the torso of the figure he’d drawn up. “This was going to be the tether. It should act like a soul, and as long as this doesn’t break you should be able to move around as freely as you want without worrying about slipping in and out.”

I didn’t really understand, but that was okay. I just liked hearing his voice half the time. “Does this mean I get to touch you?”

He beamed up at me with that usual grin, “Yes! Well, in theory.”

“Then perfect! Where is the little monster anyway?” I looked around, finding the lab empty.

“He uh, he just stepped out for a moment. Needed some fresh air you know?” The scientist’s eyes darted to the door, but he quickly went back to the drawing. “Anyway, this might take us a little while longer to figure out, but I promise it’ll be worth it.”

I floated closer, wrapping myself around him as best as I could. I knew he couldn’t feel me, and I couldn’t feel him either, but the gesture made me feel better. “As long as we can be together, it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”

How long it takes.

“How long is it going to take!? Do you have any idea how it feels to not be able to feel anything? Everything is numb, I can’t live like this anymore!” I would be crying if I could. “I-I can’t even tell how long it’s been anymore. I stopped counting after thirty years, _thirty years_ Gaster! I’m not like you guys, I’m not some-some monster that can live a hundred years and be okay with it!”

“My love, calm down please-”

“No! I’m done with all this waiting! You promised me that you could fix me! I was going to be a star! Now all I want in this miserable world is to be held and cherished, and all you want is to be the world’s greatest scientist! Well you’ll never be! Because you’re just another monster, you’ll never understand humans!” I was so tired, but I was just so angry.

“Mettaton please calm down y-you’re going to disappear if you keep this up. We’re almost finished, Sans and I-” 

“I don’t care if I disappear!”

I woke up in the lab, my fans going at top speed while my body felt like it was burning. Above me was a worried Sans and a terrified Alphys.

“H-he’s awake! Mettaton wha-what happened?” Alphys looked so relieved, but she was still so scared.

I had no idea what happened, one minute I was talking to Al, the next minute...the next minute I…

“I-I forgot something? No I...I remember something.” I pushed myself up, rubbing my hand over my forehead. 

“What was it?” Sans’s voice was so harsh, demanding.

“The lab I...I’ve been here before, right?” It was so clear a minute ago, but now it seemed nothing more than a dream.

Sans stayed silent this time, waiting on baited breath for what I was going to say next, but Alphys butted in, “Yes you were, y-you were with s-some scientists, but that doesn’t matter, a-are you alright?” She was looking at Sans, her face twisted in worry and something unclear. Guilt?

“I...I think so.” Things were becoming a little more clear, the only thing I could remember fully was that there was something inside me that must be broken. “The heart-where’s my heart?” I’d never seen anything heart shaped on my body before, except maybe the belt on my EX form but that couldn’t be it. 

Alphys hesitated, eyes still on Sans, before she popped open my chest and grabbed her keys, finding a small golden one and fitting it inside a box in the middle of my chest. It opened up, revealing a yellow heart, with no visible issues.

“I-I thought this might the cause of my problems but..” My voice trailed off, just seeing the thing made me feel uneasy.

“Oh-uhm, well h- **I**! I already fixed it!.” She laughed, rubbing her hands together nervously.

I looked at it again, but had to look away, it was too strange. I was okay now, that was all that mattered. I just wanted to go home. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh. “Alright well, I...I guess I’m fine then. There’s nothing else that’s wrong as far as I know.”

“You don’t uh-you don’t have any questions? Nothing um, nothing on your mind?” Alphys was acting twice as nervous as usual, which was the only thing I had on my mind at the moment. I figured that unless I said something, nobody was going to give me any answers, and I didn’t want any. Whatever I saw, whatever happened to me, it was far behind me now.

“Is it okay if I go home?” The doctor locked up my heart and closed my chest.

“Um sure, just c-call me if anything happens again okay?” I gave her a half hearted nod and slipped off the table.

Sans handed me a shirt and my jacket, which I sluggishly put on. There was something weird going on, and the only reason Alphys wouldn’t tell me was if she royally fucked up. Which means she clearly fucked up somehow and for some reason it related directly to me and to Sans. Don’t think I wouldn’t notice how shady that boy’s acting too.

We said our goodbyes quickly, Papyrus would be home any minute and the last thing either of us wanted was for him to worry about me. We got outside and started toward the house, it was only ten minutes away but it was cold and I was feeling creaky and tired.

“Hey Sans when I was-” I barely got a word in before he suddenly grabbed me, pulling me down to him by the collar and giving me a rough kiss. I was stunned, even more than I was last time. Why was he kissing me, I thought he didn’t like me? Why was I liking this, why was I kissing back? I didn’t even have time to get into it before he pulled away again and I was being scolded.

“Don’t do that again.” He whispered, still close enough that I felt his breath on my skin. This was the second time I was star-struck by how handsome he was, he looked so upset but in the way an actor would look, eyes half lidded and cloudy with that small pout. I wanted him to kiss me again, I needed it, I was so hungry for the feel of another person at that moment that I could hardly contain myself.

Sans was walking away though. I don’t know when he started but he was already a couple feet ahead of me. “Sans! Wait up!” I snapped out of whatever state I was in and jogged to join him, and we walked home together.

__________________________

“Now I thought I was great before but today I was being asked left and right if I was Mettaton’s new boyfriend! Apparently my face was all over the news! So was Sans, but we’re almost just as famous as Mettaton now!” Papyrus was scooping rice into his mouth in between his sentences. We opted for takeout since the paparazzi was everywhere.

In typical Sans fashion we didn’t talk about that strange kiss, or what had happened when I passed out. Now that I was sitting here, acting like nothing weird was going on, I felt like something weird was going on. Things were too normal.

“I passed out today.” I didn’t look up from my food, pushing the onions away from my fried rice.

In typical Papyrus fashion he comically overreacted, doing a spit take. “What!? Are you alright? Did you go see Alphys? What happened?” 

I stopped for a moment, I’d hardly even thought about what I said before I said it. Why did I say that?

“Oh-uh yeah. She fixed whatever was wrong though, so I should be fine now.” Now I felt embarrassed, I stole a glance up at Papyrus, who was still looking worried.

Within no time his face softened, and he gave me a concerned smile, “Well at least you’re okay now right? Good thing we’re staying home for the rest of the week right Sans?” He looked at his brother, who was already done with his food.

“Huh? Yeah, we can take turns playing doctor right?” He snickered.

Papyrus rolled his eyes, “Mettaton, I think it’d be best for you to take some time off too, you’ve been working so hard lately, I’m sure your fans will understand, I know I do.” He smiled.

I was just paranoid wasn’t I? Dreaming up weird stuff, getting all doe-eyed over Sans, none of that was real. I’d been getting so mad lately, maybe the stress really was catching up to me. I pulled out my phone and glanced through my calendar. There was just so much to do, I couldn’t possibly take even one day off or else everything would collapse.

“Mettaton.” Papyrus piped up. “You can’t do everything at once, you’re amazing, but you’re not just a machine.”

He’s right, I’m not a machine. I took a deep breath, texted my manager, and put my phone down. “Okay, I’ll take the week off.”

The brothers smiled at each other, then at me. “You know what that means, right bro?” Sans got up, taking his empty plate to the kitchen for once.

“Movie night!!” Papryus cheered, pointing his chopsticks at the sky and striking a dramatic pose.

Yes movie night, the night where we all huddle together and watch an endless stream of movies until the last person falls asleep and we all wake up with sore necks. The perfect way to end such a shitty day.

What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this going on? Mettaton has some holes in his past, a secret lover? What's Sans hiding, and why did this strange scientist mention him? I'm starting to really get into this, I've got a lot of plans for further chapters cooking up, I only have one more chapter written atm so I can't guarantee after that if there's going to be any sort of consistency, I've had chapters 1-3 written for two months (and I rewrote them a shit ton to make it actually decent) and I've just been on a writing streak this week (pulled like two all nighters just writing non stop the minute I figured out what to do next). The next chapter is gonna be p big so I might wait a little bit to upload it, amt I'm just throwing in everything I have finished. I'm going to add some steamy stuff, I'm setting it up so plot stuff will happen before or after so it's easy to skip past if you're not looking for that sort of thing (but this one is honestly like the cutest I've ever written so I highly recommend reading it).


	5. The idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put a ***** before and after the saucy scene B) so if you want to skip it and get to the juicy plot bits. I really love this chapter, it's really cute.

I mean I thought being huddled together and watching an endless stream of movies until we all fell asleep would be the perfect way to end a shitty day, but of course _something_ had to make it the worst possible outcome. I guess I could try and blame it on the fact that our cozy family relationship has been snuffed out, or the fact that there’s now extreme sexual tension between us, but all I could do was sit smooshed between the two brothers and _sweat_ under this heavy blanket.

In one corner is the fantastically adorable Papyrus, with his turtleneck sweater that was making me lose my mind. He looked both adorable and irresistible, and it didn’t help that he was completely unfazed that he was thigh to thigh with the sexiest robot in show business, not to mention his current man crush.

In the other corner was Mr Mystery himself, looking almost as flustered as I was. Maybe the closeness had made him rethink his previous actions, maybe the fact that we were also thigh to thigh was making him hot under the collar. I was currently trying to not think about any of those things because Sans was a brat and was keeping way too many secrets from me than I liked, but holy shit was I thinking about every bit of it. Raking my hands through his messy hair, the fact that he holds nothing back in those breathtaking kisses, instead of watching a movie I should be going to church.

The worst part had to be that I hadn’t gotten laid in _month's_ and now that I had some time off I immediately was spending it with two really attractive men who also happen to be my fake boyfriends and are also my best friends on the planet. I still didn’t even know if I should pursue Papyrus, especially now that I was definitely maybe sorta falling in love with the guy the more he flirted and preened me. Hate sex with Sans was definitely on the table, that was for sure.

If one of these boys didn’t take me to bed tonight, I don’t know if I’d be okay with it or devastated at this point. 

Here we were though, all cozy on the couch, a big fluffy blanket piled on top of us all, crammed together because our couch doesn’t exactly fit three grown men, searching through Netflix to find something we can all watch.

“Let’s watch this!” Papyrus would say.

“Nah how about that?” Sans would smirk, pointing at something ridiculous.

“Sans you’re not even trying!” Papyrus would pout.

“What about you TT? What do you want to watch?” Sans would ask, avoiding eye contact.

“Me? Oh! Um, anything is fine darling, whatever you’d like.” I would avoid the question, knowing full well I would hardly be paying attention. 

After more bickering between the two, which eased the mood for me a lot, they settled on a rom-com, cheesy enough for Sans but fun enough for Papyrus. It did nothing but complicate things further for me, especially with the fake/pretend relationship plot. I was in hell.

It wasn’t that bad, twenty minutes in and I was fully invested in the movie, at least enough to keep my mind off of the two. It wasn’t the best, but it was endearing, and Papyrus seemed to be thrilled by it.

“No! He can’t marry her, he doesn’t even _like_ her! He’s _clearly_ madly in love with the bride’s maid, right Papyrus?” I grabbed a handful of popcorn, promptly stuffing my face with it in distress.

“I most full heartedly agree!” He nodded, crossing his arms. “I don’t get why he doesn’t just tell her how she feels!”

Sans was shaking his head, chuckling to himself, “Boy, you guys have a lot to learn.”

“Shut up Sans!” We both barked, going for the popcorn at the same time. Our hands touched and suddenly a gust of rose petals flew passed us as we looked into eachothers eyes. In reality Papyrus just grabbed himself a handful of popcorn without a second thought, while I mekely blushed.

I had to admit, it was really fun to be together just like old times.

After the first movie finished the rest of them flew right by. I wasn’t sure how many movies in we were until I felt Papy tap my shoulder and point across me at his brother. Sans was sound asleep in the dim light of the credits.

“I’m going to go put him to bed Mettaton, are you tired too?” His voice was barely above a whisper as he uncovered himself from the now suffocatingly hot blankets.

I merely shook my head, I apparently got a good three hour nap earlier already. I was also fully charged which didn’t help me on the sleepiness factor.

“Me neither,” He smiled, “You can pick something while I go take care of him okay?” Papyrus rounded the coffee table and uncovered his older brother, easily picking him up and gently carrying him over his shoulder before disappearing up the stairs in the dark.

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to watch at all. So far we saw a romcom, a comedy, an action movie, and some cheesy b movie. Our selection was already pretty diverse, and I was starting to get out of the mood until I saw one title that piqued my interest. 

“Your first movie, I’ve already watched it four times.” Papyrus was right next to me, I almost let out a yelp before I caught myself. I didn’t even hear him come back down the stairs. He just gave me a light hearted smile before sitting back in his seat next to me.

“Oh, really? I haven’t even watched it myself, I know I went to the premier but I ended up um-preoccupied?” I gave a nervous laugh. “Is it good?”

“Only the parts you’re in.” His voice sounded so much more sultry when he was trying to be quiet, maybe it was just the air. 

I tried to hide my blush, and started the movie with no protest from Papyrus. Even though I was trying to watch the movie, I couldn’t help but tell Papy all the juicy bits that were going on between each scene. I had snuggled up against him, far more comfortable than when we were all scrunched together.

“Now in this scene that guy right there had just had a huge fight with that girl over there. Oh I was dying, she was getting her makeup done and it started raining so she made this guy,”

“Mettaton.”

“Stand there with an umbrella for the third time because she had to keep doing another take because she kept messing up her own lines and”

“Mettaton.”

“So he was getting fed up with it and blew up after she messed up AGAIN and-”

“Mettaton!” Papyrus giggled, taking my face in his hand and making me look at him.

“Yeah?” I asked, hardly even thinking.

“As much as I’d love to hear you talk some more, and believe me I _love_ to hear you talk, I’ve been trying to get the chance to kiss you this entire time and Sans is finally asleep and in bed, but you’ve been so busy talking about the movie that I haven’t even been able to make a move.” Papy laughed, tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Oh.” Where did this super confident guy come from? After his response yesterday I thought Papyrus was going to be all blushes and chaste kisses, but here’s mister smooth ready to sweep me off my feet.

“Oh? So is it okay? B-because if it’s not I-I won’t do anything and you can keep telling me about the movie.” Now he was blushing, maybe I was overthinking it, it’s still Papyrus after all.

“No it’s...it’s okay.” I smiled at him, turning my body so I could sit more comfortably.

Papyrus swallowed hard, but left all his nervousness behind and slowly leaned in.I met him halfway, and his kiss felt like home. I felt like it was so familiar, and I was definitely ready to take as much time as I needed. Movie? What movie?

I was enjoying every minute of it. The way he could hold my neck, pulling me closer when he felt like he couldn’t get enough. I somehow ended up in his lap, thighs on either side of his, and fingers mapping out his shoulders. He wasn’t forceful, but he wasn’t reserved either, he took exactly everything I gave him, and I drank my fill of everything he was ready to give me. Sans who, amiright?

“W-wait Mettaton,” Papy pulled away to breath, both of us slightly disheveled and panting.

“Is something wrong my dear?” I quirked up an eyebrow, hoping I hadn’t gone too far.

“Of course not, I-I was just um, I’m in sort of a pickle?” He was red, slightly embarrassed over something, I wasn’t sure of what until his eyes darted down to the tent in his pants.

“Oh!” My heart fluttered, how absolutely adorable. “Well we can’t have that can we?”

“I-I’ll just be a minute, then we can get back to kissing I swear.” He was about to get up but I refused to move.

“Darling please, let me get that for you.” I pulled him into another kiss, trailing down to his throat and kissing there too.

“W-wait Mettaton you don’t have to, I’m fine just-”

“Papyrus, I _want_ to.” I mumbled into his ear, nibbling on the top of it. “I won’t if you don’t want me to, but I would love it if I could continue spoiling you.”

He was a stammering mess before he finally got out a, “Y-y-y-yes I-I’d like that too Mettaton!” Completely melting as I sucked a love bite onto his collar bone.

*****

I was getting rather turned on myself, and I didn’t want to stop kissing him anytime soon. With one hand in his hair and the other sliding down his shirt, I started to undo his pants. Making quick work of that, I slid over his briefs and rubbed all the way down his length which I almost gasped at. He was perfectly long, and just thick enough that I was ready to slam my hips down and ride him like no tomorrow. 

“I can’t believe you’ve been hiding this from me Papyrus, all this time.” I let out a slight groan as I rubbed over it again, biting into the crook of his neck.

Papyrus let out a low moan, jello arms finding purchase on my back. He worried his lower lip with his teeth and piped up, “Mettaton, can you say my name again?”

“Papyrus darling, I’ll say it as many times as you’d like.” I slid my fingers under the waistband and pulled out his cock, feeling all of it’s swelling warmth heavy in my hand.

I brought my hand up to my mouth, getting it at least a little wet before bringing it back down and smoothing it down his length. I took that moment to get a good look at it, not disappointed in the slightest. I let out a pleased hum, pumping up and down it, stopping at the tip to thumb over it a couple times. I was so mesmerized I didn’t even feel his hands snaking up my shirt.

Without a second thought I threw it off, hands getting back to work. I wasn’t much under there, no real nipples other than basically tattoos, a little plump in the chest, just enough to give something nice to touch. Papyrus though, he was enjoying every bit of it. It was his turn to mark up my neck and _fuck_ did he ever. I could chalk up his roughness to inexperience if it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I let out a pained moan as he effectively bruised my collar bone with a more than enthusiastic suck. I rewarded him with my hand picking up the pace, starting to wish I had my own dick out right about now.

As if the wonderful boy could read my mind, I felt a palm over my crotch and he whispered, “Is it okay?” in my ear as I shivered.

“Go ahead, my dear Papyrus.” I continued my ministrations, biting my lip in anticipation. What was he thinking about? Was he as excited as I was? Has he touched himself while in hopes of this exact moment? Has he ever thought about me? I was so caught up in the moment that I almost forgot.

“Um, Mettaton isn’t there supposed to be?” His hand has just met smooth skin, and he was almost about to press further until I stopped him.

“Wait!” I blushed, not quite ready for that with Papyrus. “G-give me a second!” Now slightly embarrassed I distracted him with a kiss and a thorough rub of the tip of his cock while my dick made a soft “vrrrrrr” as it slowly revealed itself. After it was fully out I pulled away, completely embarrassed for whatever silly reason. I knew he wasn’t going to judge me, I was a robot after all, I wasn’t human, of course my dick wouldn’t be human either.

I swallowed hard, hand slowing down as I was distracted. I knew he wanted to look, I was fine with him looking, it just felt embarrassing because it was Papyrus. The minute he looked though, I could feel his cock twitch in my hand, and he bit his lip, blushing even more than me.

“I-is it okay?” 

“Huh?” He blinked, stealing his eyes away for a moment.

The way he looked at me like I was the sun was just as embarrassing as the way he was looking at my stupid robo-dick. “I! Is this okay? Ar-are you okay with-with this?” I gestured down. I never worried about it with anyone else, Papyrus was just different.

“O-oh! Yes! Of course! I was just, wow, it’s so…” He trailed off, his cock twitching again in my hand. 

I couldn’t stand the tension, “Just hurry up already.” I mumbled, which snapped him out of it enough to get back in the mood. He came back for another kiss, one hand around the back of my neck, the other one sliding up my thigh. I rolled my hips in anticipation, just wanting him to touch me and get it over with already. When his hand finally wrapped around my dick all I could do is groan into his mouth, giving him a slight squeeze. 

After giving me a few well deserved pumps, he gently brushed my hand away, taking the both of us in his long slender fingers. I felt horribly spoiled, but it was so fantastic. He pumped us both together, and I couldn’t help but rut into his hand, more impatient than ever. I wanted to cum, and I wanted him to cum too.

“Papyrus,” I moaned out, leaning my head into his shoulder and letting out a deeper moan. “Fuck, you’re hands are like magic.” My nails raked down the front of his shirt, and my hips jutted forward again.

“...so good Mettaton, you’re so beautiful,” he was panting hard, “I’m so lucky to be able to see y-you every-fuck!, everyday.” 

I let out a whine, his hands moving faster, precum making it slick. Papyrus must be getting close which made me want to see him cum even more. I sat straight up again, and pulled one of my legs out from underneath me and put an ankle on Papyrus’s shoulder. He bit his lip, rolling his head to the side to kiss every inch of my leg he could get to, groaning against the appendage.

“C-close,” Papyrus moaned, abusing the tip of our cocks with his thumb before pumping them quickly.

“Papy, my dearest, fuck! Come for me Papyrus, I wan-goddamnit I wanna see it,” I cried, nearing my own limit.

It only took a moment later before his face scrunched up, growling out my name he came into his hand. I was right behind him, back arching as I held onto his knees for support, my voice much louder than intended. I couldn’t help it, I hadn’t come that hard in weeks, and the feel of his hot slick had me aching for more.

Papyrus looked spent, bringing his hand up and frowning at the amount of semen on his hand. I was conscious just enough to lean forward again, and took each finger in my mouth, cleaning it slowly. It was better than I had hoped, and before we both knew it his hand was just as clean as when we started, albeit now covered in saliva. He leaned forward, hesitating a moment before kissing me, a lot more groggily than before.

My legs were starting to ache, so I let the one leg fall, and went down with it, laying down on the couch. “You were fucking fabulous Papyrus.” I panted, smiling up at him. “Why waste your talents at a pizza place when you could be giving me professional grade hand jobs?”

“I appreciate the job offer, but I’d have to decline,” He giggled, begrudgingly stuffing himself back in his pants. “Come on, it’s late, it’s my turn to tuck you in.” Without any prompting Papyrus picked me up, slightly more effort than Sans (he was a marshmallow, I was almost 200 pounds of steel), and carried me up into my bedroom, laying me down in the bed.

*****

“You’re too kind,” I pecked him on the cheek, sending my dick back to it’s cock-cave until the next time I summon it. “So Papy, why the sudden burst of confidence?” I patted the bed next to me, wanting to chat with him before we pretend like this never happened.

“Gosh it’s too embarrassing,” he sat, hands covering his face, “It still doesn’t even feel real! **The** Mettaton just-wow I just-oh my god!” He was red from head to toe.

“Hey, I’m not **the** Mettaton, I’m **your** Mettaton right now.” I rubbed his back, body feeling way too tired to move.

“Well, honestly I, I thought you looked really cute during the movies, I just wanted to kiss you I swear! I didn’t mean for us to-” Papyrus blushed even redder.

I laughed, laying flat on my back and looked up at the ceiling. “Papyrus.”

“Yes, Mettaton?” His voice was soft.

“I don’t...I don’t want to lead you on. This was really fun, and I’d love to do it again but I just...I’m not ready for a real relationship.” It felt harsh putting it so simply, but I didn’t want to hurt the poor boy.

“That’s okay.” He smiled, “I’ll keep this as my own personal treasure, and if we ever do it again then I’ll just have more to treasure.”

My heart fluttered at his sincerity, he really was such a sweet guy. My eyes were getting heavy now, my mind drifting to the day. Everything felt to far away, and that dream was so strange, but Sans was even stranger. “Papyrus...what’s Sans hiding?”

The other was silent. I felt him lean forward, propping his elbows on his knees as he thought. “Metatton there’s...there’s something that we haven’t told you, something that happened a long time ago.”

What? I sat up, brushing my hair out of my face. “What?” Sans hiding something was one thing, but this sounded like Papyrus knew what was going on too.

“It’s not...it’s not that big of a deal, I mean, it is but it hasn’t affected anything before now so we never really talk about it anymore. We honestly never talk about it in the first place, that’s just how Sans is, he never um, he never lets anyone see when something gets to him.” Papyrus was looking at me over his shoulder, face somber and very un-Papyrus.

“What is it?” I was trying not to think about how strange Papyrus looked to me right now.

“There was...an accident, a couple years back, before we knew Alphys and the others, maybe even before we moved here. I don’t know exactly what happened, Sans won’t tell me, but ever since then I couldn’t remember anything from before that point. I have no memory of anything other than Snowdin, and the last 8 years.” His voice was more serious than I’d ever heard in my life. Cheery, handsome Papy was now some dark, tortured character I didn’t know.

“I-it doesn’t affect me, I have lots of new memories and a ton of new friends, but I know Sans is the only person who knows who I used to be, and there’s a lot he won’t tell me. He keeps saying it’s not important anymore, that I should keep smiling and doing my best. I-I know that I’m different, I don’t work the same way as other people, and my hands don’t always do what I tell them.” Papyrus’s shoulders tightened, and he looked down at his lap. 

“I’m so thankful for all the help I’ve gotten an-and Sans did so much for me to get me to where I am now, but it’s just...there’s _things_ that don’t feel right, I look in the mirror and I don’t recognise myself, and Sans won’t talk to me about it! He refuses to tell me anything about myself, and, and that just makes me so mad!” He huffed, lifting his head up, the air suddenly a lot less tense.

“So he’s hiding things from both of us, isn’t he?” I gave him a weak smile, one which he returned with his own grin.

“Exactly! So I know how you feel Mettaton, it’s so frustrating. I’m his only family member and he won’t even talk to me about his feelings!” Papy turned to me. “We need to band together, we’ll call ourselves SOS!”

“SOS?” I smirked.

“Save our Sans! We’ll get him to open up to us, maybe then we can figure out what he’s hiding from us.” He was pumped, eyes full of resolve.

“You really think we can do it?” 

“Of course! I’m his brother, and he’s in love with you, he’s got to tell us something if we just keep pressuring him!” My stomach dropped, what did he just say?

“Sans is...in love with me?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

Papyrus froze, sweat beading on his forehead. Clearly he wasn’t supposed to tell me that. “N-no he’s not he’s um! Well! He likes you maybe not **loves** you but-but I see him and he’s always so, he like, oh no I’ve said something wrong I didn’t mean to tell you that!” He rambled frantically, trying to somehow make the situation better.

“Is that why? Is that why you asked me to pretend go out with him?” I clamped my hand over my mouth, I thought he was just trying to get us to stop bickering. This was the last place I thought he’d go, but it was starting to make sense. When Sans yelled at me that time it wasn’t because Papyrus liked me, it was because _he_ liked me, which didn’t make it any less shitty, but at least now I know why his excuse didn’t sit right with me.

“Ack! Nooo, I just-gah! Yes! I thought you’d pick whoever you liked more, or-or even if there was a possibility you liked either of us, I-I thought maybe I could nudge him in the right direction, I didn’t want him to keep pushing me to ask you out, especially since, shit this sounds so stupid and manipulative out loud.” Papyrus whined into his hands. 

“No Papy,” I moved closer, hugging his shoulders and nuzzling my face against him. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, you didn’t do anything wrong darling.” Suddenly the past 48 hours were a lot more adorable than I gave them credit for. All that stress didn’t mean a thing now that I hear both brothers were just trying to get the other one to have a chance at going out with me through some silly little proposition to pretend to date me. I couldn’t even be mad, two ridiculously hot boys were scrambling to just get a kiss from **me**.

“Are you sure you’re not mad?” Papyrus pouted up at me, and my heart almost stopped.

“Of course not my love,” I pulled him in for a kiss, completely fine with the current chain of events. It had been a long time since I was actually in love with anyone. Wait-no? I’ve never been in love with anyone, right? At least, none of my one offs never made me feel anything close to love, and when I was alive all I thought about was becoming a star and having people love me. When was I ever in love?

Who is Gaster?


	6. The date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated, and I'm sorry about that. I hit some road blocks with this chapter and I just haven't felt like writing anything for this for a while. If it's any consolation it's a bit longer, not intentional but inevitable. I think it's good though, gross amounts of fluff as per usual and some strange going ons. Hope you like it, can't exactly promise when the next chapter will appear but I'll at least start it rn.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes and regret. Okay, maybe not _regret_ more so fear. Me and Papyrus had a perfectly consensual, romantic jerk off on the couch while Sans slept upstairs. I now know that both brothers are pining after me, Sans being insistent that I romance his brother, while also being extremely protective of his brother. How was he going to react to me both reciprocating his feelings, while also admitting that I wasn’t ready to get in a serious relationship? Was it going to be a repeat of that awful day?

I didn’t have the chance to figure it out before the door was being pushed open and Papyrus was walking in with a tray of breakfast and the biggest grin he could muster.

“You’re awake! Splendid!” He was blindingly radiant. I groaned as I sat up, still groggy from staying up so late the night before. The tray was placed gently on my lap and I got the full boxed blueberry pancake mix smell up close. My stomach growled.

“Morn’g,” I mumbled, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. 

“Sans and I got up before you so we decided breakfast in bed was the best way to get you up!” I looked him over, he was wearing a _painfully_ tight shirt with an MTT brand apron I got him last christmas. I could get used to this.

I mumbled a thanks, already digging into my impossibly round pancakes. They tasted fantastic, unsurprising since Papy cooked almost all the meals himself every chance he could. Dinner was always something from work, or takeout since he worked until late but only on the weekdays. Any other time it was food heaven.

“The two of us started talking about the best way to help you de-stress and get as far away from anything that resembles work is to do the opposite of laying low!” Papyrus nodded approvingly to himself.

“Which is?” I covered another yawn with the back of my hand before cutting into more pancakes.

“Shopping!” 

I was now wide awake and trying to scarf down on my delicious, disgustingly romantic breakfast so that we could leave as soon as humanly possible. I almost choked. 

“We knew you’d be excited!” He cheered triumphantly. “We’ll be downstairs, come down with your dishes whenever you're ready!” Papy bounded off without a second thought.

I hadn’t been able to properly shop for some time now. I either got my outfits online, which I hardly got the chance to wear anyway being that for work I mostly strut around in EX, or got them as gifts from other people in the industry. It didn’t even matter if I was going to get swamped by adoring fans; because I was going to be _swamped by adoring fans_.

Now the only thing I had to really worry about was what to wear!

My collection wasn’t the biggest, or the brightest, or the flashiest despite what others might think. There were plenty of times for that on stage or at galas and parties, but when it came to everyday I found that the simpler the better. Throw on the right blouse with the right pants, accessorize, and even the mundane could become walking perfection.

The first thing to think about was the season, it was dangerously close to snowing season (which was like september in the town literally named snowed-in) so it was definitely going to be cold out and I do not do very well in the cold. Everything stops up and I feel all achy, not fun. I had to pick something warm, and I was feeling like pink was the way to go.

With a little thoughtful internal dialogue I found myself the perfect outfit. A black tank top under a pastel pink knit top, off the shoulder so I had a nice balance of toasty and sexy. Black shorts with thigh high cat stockings and a cute pair of ballet flats, I looked perfect.

I did my makeup and grabbed the tray of breakfast and headed downstairs with a pep in my step, ready to tackle the day. I was only slightly disappointed, Sans was just in his normal everyday attire which I wasn’t really expecting him to be in anything else, and Papyrus was wearing his own relatively normal clothes with that cute red bandana. I wonder if that bandana means something to him, from before the accident maybe?

“Ready?” Sans stretched, pausing whatever show he was watching on tv.

I set my stuff in the kitchen. “Almost, has anyone seen my purse anywhere?”

“Yes!” Papyrus dashed upstairs, disappearing into the bathroom before coming back down, purse in hand. “Al dropped it off two days ago when you forgot it in the car, I forgot to tell you it was in there.”

“Thank you darling, I’ll have to tell him thanks too, I wonder how him and Roy are going to spend their day off.” I opened it up, mumbling as I made sure my wallet was in it. After finding everything checked out I snapped it shut and put it over my shoulder.

“Now are we ready? I’m getting hungry.” Sans was standing by the door, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Sans! You just had breakfast!” Papyrus pulled his keys off the wall.

“Yes dear.” I rolled my eyes, passing him before opening the door. 

The brothers only had one car and since Sans hated driving more than he loved sleeping, Papyrus had to be the one to drive us everywhere. I had my own drivers, but I only called them when I didn’t want to bother Papy, or if it was for work. The car was okay, nothing too special, just a red convertible I had also gotten him for christmas last year. It was his dream car, and he treated it with absolute care.

Sans was in the back before I could even get near the thing, which meant I was up front with Papyrus. Which also meant he was pushing me to get closer to his brother, again. I pretended like I was indifferent, and hopped into the car as Papyrus joined after locking up the house.

We drove well into the city, apparently going for gold. There was a beautiful mall in downtown that I rarely got the chance to visit, and today was the day I was going to blow all the extra cash I had. I’d been raking in the dough, getting more and more before I had the chance to buy anything, and today I was allowed to do anything.

I was getting looks the minute we walked in. Papy and Sans were on the alert, but i was eating it **up**. 

“Mettaton c-can I get your autograph?”

“Mettaton!? OHmygod!”

“Mettaton, let me get a picture of you and your boyfriends!”

“A group date? Cuuuute.”

“Mettaton! I love your outfit!”

I greeted everyone with a smile and a thank you. I liked to think that I was pretty down to earth, but getting all this attention had my fans going with adrenaline. The brothers took it in stride, Papyrus was always happy to soak up the attention he got while being around me, but Sans was merely ghosting behind us, making sure everything was safe.

It didn’t take long for the frenzy to die down to the occasional wave or autograph. Sans couldn’t be more glad.

“Now that that’s over,” he wiped his face off with a napkin, we were able to stop for a minute to get him a snack, “where to first?”

“First, we’re getting you some new clothes.” I smiled.

“Come again?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I’m pretty sure you haven’t worn anything besides that jacket and those pants since I met you, I’m surprised it’s not riddled with holes.” I looked him over, his jacket had a couple stains in it, and the rest of his clothes were just so _boring_.

“He’s right Sans, it’s rather….disgusting.” Papy made a face.

“I like my look,” he pouted, “it gives off the exact impression people should have of me y’know? Low standards, low expectations, and low maintenance.” Sans puffed out his jacket, as if preening his taste in fashion.

That was not going to fly. We headed to a generic store, something that would probably suit his tastes a bit more, and I went to work. I grabbed every extra large t-shirt I could find that even _remotely_ looked like Sans would like it, as well as many many types of pants. Those jorts were physically offensive to my eyes and I was avoiding anything that even made me think of them. Sans went along with it, probably more so to humor me than anything else. He would put on an outfit, open the door and strike some goofy poses while me and Papy deliberated extensively over which were hits and which were misses.

Slowly Sans did seem to get more interested, but just barely. He’d mumble about how he kinda liked the color, or a shirt looked kinda nice, but anytime I asked if he wanted it he’d brush it off like he wasn’t even interested in the first place. At first I found it cute, but after so many outfits I was getting tired of his pessimism, and especially his jacket.

“Why don’t you like this one? It makes you look slimmer, it's not too fancy, it's the same color!” I held up a blue jacket, it was the closest one I could find that still looked good.

“Nah, it’s too blue.” Sans shrugged.

“Too blue! It’s the same blue!” I held it next to his sleeve, the color was only slightly off but only because his jacket was so faded from wear.

“Can’t do it, too blue.” Sans was not letting up.

“Why are you being so stubborn!? It’s just a dirty old jacket!” I may have been raising my voice a little. Papy had left to go to the bathroom so I wasn’t as reserved toward the oldest.

“But it sure is comfy.” He hugged the jacket, snickering at my frustration.

“Give me that!” I snatched it out of his arms, his face widened with shock, he clearly didn’t see that coming.

“H-hey give it back robo-babe.” Sans said, looking slightly nervous.

I wasn’t listening, deaf from frustration I stomped toward the nearest trash can. “It’s old it’s dusty and it’s covered in stains! There’s only one place this belongs!” I was so close to slam dunking it in the can when San’s hand gripped my wrist tightly.

“Mettaton.” His voice was cold. “Give me my jacket.”

Sans was giving me a dark look, eyes glaring into mine. I looked at the jacket, there was nothing special about the stupid thing. Everybody has jackets that get old and they stop wearing, I just wanted him to dress a little nicer. I didn’t want to force him to wear anything he didn’t want to wear I was just getting so frustrated at his insistence. It was just a stupid jacket.

“Fine take it,” I tossed it at him, and he quickly caught it. “Sorry I wanted you to care about your appearance a little more. I thought you’d be happy with something new.” I grumbled, mood turned sour.

Sure I was overreacting a little, maybe a lot, but it was getting me so mad. I hated the idea of other people looking at him and seeing a slob, overweight, messy, or anything less than his best. If he only dressed a little better maybe he could get some confidence in himself, I always thought he looked handsome, I just want everyone else to see what I see.

“Mettaton that’s-ugh.” Sans rubbed his hand over his face, trying to find the right words. “That’s not it, I appreciate this, it’s uh, it’s fun. I wouldn’t normally think of wearing some of this stuff. It’s just the jacket it-it’s…” He looked like he was fighting with himself, more than likely hiding something again. “Look someone important gave me this jacket, and it’s all I got left of ‘em you know? Maybe I don’t look that great in it, yeah it’s pretty dirty, but I just...I can’t get replace it. I didn’t mean to get you so upset, this was supposed to be about you and I didn’t expect this.”

My scowl softened a bit, I didn’t know somebody gave it to him. I wonder who it was. Papyrus? No he would've said it if it were-”Before the accident!” I blurted out in my sudden realization, slapping my fingers over my mouth. I’m an idiot, why did I do that? Now he knows that I know and it’s gonna get awkward and he’s gonna stop opening up!

“Pap told you didn’t he?” Sans sighed, slipping on the old cloth. “That’s good, better him than me. Yeah he gave it to me, back then. That sounds really shitty now that I said it that way.”

“No I-I get what you mean, he must be a lot different now.” My heart was pounding, Papy said he never talked about it.

“You wouldn’t know the half of it.” Sans said with a nostalgic chuckle. “It’s not uh, the place to talk about it though, let's just put this whole thing behind us and get back to shopping okay?”

“Y-yeah of course.” I felt awkward, but soon enough we were back to normal, piling the checkout with clothes while Papy informed us of something funny that happened on the way to the bathroom.

We stopped by a bunch of different stores, and I was having a great time. Now that shopping for Sans was over I managed to get some stuff for Papy, and most importantly me. Every winter I always needed a new coat, one that was far more stylish than the last. We scoured every single coat rack looking for the absolute **best** one. It wasn’t just important to me, whatever coat I chose would be pictured in every paparazzi photo for the entire winter. It would no doubt become extremely popular, so I liked getting something that wasn’t extremely overpriced so that fans could afford it. 

“Hey TT, what about this?” Sans sounded tired, way passed his nap time. 

“Hm?” I whipped around to find him holding out one of the most perfect coats I’ve ever seen. I quickly grabbed it, checking the labels and the design in a frenzy. It was deep red, perfect, it had cream colored faux fur, flawless, it had cute buttons, fantastic, and it was affordable! I squealed in delight, holding it close. “Yes! This is it!”

Sans gave a lazy “Hooray.” and I kissed him on the forehead, which made him shrink into his jacket with a soft blush.

Papy cheered, but it was strained since he had been carrying the heavier bags all day. It seemed like everyone was tuckered out, and I was definitely getting low on battery life.

It didn’t take long for me to check out and carry my share of bags out to the car. I was about to ask Papy if he wanted me to drive but he already hopped in the front seat, excited for something. I was too tired to question it, and Sans was already asleep before I knew he was in the car.

The ride was nice, we had the top down and the wind was rushing through my hair. I did feel better, even after the little jacket episode. Meeting fans also helped, I was given a couple pictures and gifts like cheap jewelry from Claire’s or a heartfelt letter. It really did make me happy to see people pour their hearts out to me, telling me how much they’re inspired and how much they look up to me. I’ve always been a mess, but at least people see something good in me.

“What are we doing next?” I yawned, we had a small generator to give me an extra charge but I still felt tuckered out.

“You’ll see” Papy giggled.

I gave him a look, which he ignored because Papy was very strict with his road safety and hardly ever took his eyes off the road, he clearly had some sort of plan. The days were getting shorter, so the sky was already turning pink ahead of us. He might be taking us out to eat, that sounded pretty nice right about now.

The drive wasn’t much longer and we pulled onto a grassy parking lot. In front of us was the beach, lit up golden by the setting sun. I got out of the car, squinting at the horizon, the water looked beautiful in the light.

“C’mon TT, or you’ll get left behind.” Sans was, surprisingly, up and halfway to the path leading into the sand. Papyrus was speed walking as fast as he could, trying not to be suspicious.

Clearly there was some suspicious activity going on.

I took my time joining them, they seemed like they needed a minute to set something up, and when I reached Papyrus he had laid out a large cloth and was pulling plates out of a picnic basket. Sans was uncorking a bottle of wine, eyes avoiding my gaze. What a bunch of saps.

“Romantic picnic on the beach huh,” I smirked and sat down, “Whose idea?” Sans handed me a glass of wine, which I gladly took a sip of. It tasted good, and the food looked even tastier. Papy had a spread of fruits and cheeses, with the main dish being subs. My stomach was already growling.

The brothers locked eyes, clearly trying to decide who should get credit for it. “P-!” “SANS!!” Papyrus would always win when it came to being heard. Sans even looked taken aback, especially at how determined his brother looked to give him credit. The older looked at me, a little flushed, and gave a small nod.

These boys were ridiculous. “Well either way this looks great, and I thank the both of you for this wonderful surprise.” I gave Sans a kiss, but hesitated at the thought of actually kissing him, so I aimed for his cheek instead. I gave Papyrus the same treatment, a kiss to the cheek, and started to collect food onto my plate as the two of them swooned. 

It was nice, the wind was cool, the sunset was beautiful, and the food hit the spot. We were all pretty tired so we ate mostly in silence, just enjoying eachothers company. 

“Thanks, uh, for the clothes TT.” Sans finally looked at me, the guy was really always on the fence between suave and embarrassed wasn’t he.

“It’s no problem, just seeing you in them is thanks enough.” I gave him a wink.

“I wish we had brought bathing suits,” Papy frowned, “but if we did it would have ruined the surprise.”

“I think it’d be too cold anyway.” I crawled my hand over to his, entwining them together. The day had really gone great, and it was all thanks to the two of them.

We finished up the food, and what we didn’t eat we dumped back into the containers for another day. Sans helped pack everything up this time, and they both refused to let me help, saying that it today was all for me. I had rolled my eyes to that, then walked to the water, standing just far enough that the water wouldn’t touch me. I could hear them bickering behind me about something, but I ignored it. I needed this, this vacation, this closeness, the thoughtfulness. I couldn’t remember a time in my previous life where anyone did anything for me. It was just me and my cousins, and I took care of them the best that I could, though it wasn’t enough. 

My mind drifted to the past, to the scientist that created this body. I couldn’t picture his face, or his voice, everything about him was a mystery to me. I can remember everything in my life but him, and that lab. Why was that? What stopped me from remembering?

“Do you still think of me, even now?” Gastor asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, leaving little kisses at the base of my hair. I held his arms against me, he made me feel safe, like nothing in the world could ever hurt me again. He wouldn’t let it, Gastor loved me, and I-

“Mettaton! Mettaton!!” It was hard to open my eyes, but when I did Sans was leaning over me, cradling my face in his hands with a look of fear. I’ve never seen that look before.

“Thank god, fuck, you gotta stop doing this.” Relief, he hugged me into that musty old jacket.

“Did I? Did I pass out again?” I felt fine, maybe a little tired but there was nothing wrong with me. This was starting to get old, I couldn’t keep passing out left and right, why was this even happening?

“Yeah, are you okay?” He pulled away, brushing hair out of my face. It didn’t look like any time had passed, but Papy looked like he wasn’t around, or else he’d be standing over me too. 

I gave him a confident nod, trying to think of what had happened a minute ago. I was being held, and I felt so safe and so loved. I reached up to San’s face, running my thumb over his cheek. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” I mumbled, and Sans seemed to calm down a bit.

“Jeez robo-babe, you’ve been playing in too many movies haven’t you? Always the damsel in distress.” He held me a little tighter, and there was something hidden in the look he gave me.

I pushed it out of my mind, I wasn’t gonna let this night be ruined by mysterious bullshit again. I just wanted to be okay, and have a nice night with my boyfriends. Weird garbage will have to wait til tomorrow. I didn’t answer him, just leaned up and kissed him.

Sans was clearly surprised, but wasn’t against it. Slowly he accepted the kiss, combing his fingers through my hair as we sat in the sand. It was different than the quick one he laid on me outside the lab, this time he just enjoyed himself. Soft makeouts on the beach sounded pretty alright with me. We took our time, Papyrus would yell for us if he needed us, and he didn’t.

After a moment we parted, silently, and made our way back to the car where Papy was leaning against the trunk.

“Thank you,” I squeezed San’s hand, speaking softly before we had made it to the car. He didn’t respond, only smiled.

“Look at you two!” Papy was grinning like an idiot, “Holding hands like a couple of love birds! I can tell that-”

“Shut up,” I giggled, pulling him in for his own sloppy kiss. Of course I was going to tease him if he was gonna be like that, so I made sure to kiss him just as thoroughly.

I left him a blushing, gaping, puddle, letting myself into the passenger seat. It took him a minute to shake it off, fumbling with the door, then almost dropping the keys while trying to start up the car.

The car ride was just as quiet as before, everyone was exhausted from the long day, only now a little more satiated in their hunger. My body was begging for sleep, but my head was full of uneasiness. I could remember it, almost as if it was real, that guy’s hands and lips, what he said to me. There were so many questions and there was no way to find out the answers. Alphys swore up and down there was nothing left on the lab or those men that had anything even remotely hinting at who they were or any of their past.

The only thing I knew for certain was that my memory was gone, and that someone was hiding something from me. I was going to figure it out, one way or another. I had to know who Gastor was.


End file.
